[Empty Body]
Hillsboro, OR: Each team knew two runs would win it. It was just a matter of who got their first.
That was the type of game that was played between the Hillsboro Hops and the Boise Hawks on Friday afternoon. After splitting the first two, the rubber match was for the taking. The Hawks sent their highest draft pick on the roster Pearson McMahan to the mound to get things started.
McMahan allowed the game's first run on a RBI-double hit by catcher Tim Susnara off of the right-center wall. Drew Ellis scored on the play to make the game 1-0. The Hawks needed a big win against Hillsboro if they wanted to continue their playoff hopes. They received four brilliant innings of relief from left-hander John Valek. Valek tossed four innings of scoreless relief to keep the game right where it was.
Boise tied it in the 4th on a Danny Edgeworth RBI sac-fly. In the game, Edgeworth's 22-game hitting streak came to an end but he still finished with the only Boise RBI of the night.
On the other side of things, Hillsboro only needed two pitchers to beat the Hawks tonight with starter Brian Shaffer and reliever Kevin McCanna. After Shaffer's three innings of relief, McCanna came into the game and finished with six innings of work while only giving up the one Boise run of the game. McCanna came into the game with no earned runs allowed in over 22 innings. Tonight, that streak broke. But he still walked away with the win.
Going into the 9th, the game was still tied 1-1. Ethan Westphal came back out for the 9th after tossing a scoreless 8th. Hillsboro only needed one run to win, and they did it in big-time fashion. Ellis stepped up to the plate to lead off the 9th. On the first slider he saw from Westphal, he cranked a high drive out over the left field wall. The Hops had won the game.
For Ellis, it was his seventh of the season after being drafted with the 44th overall pick in this year's draft. Ellis scored both of Hillsboro's runs in the game and lifted them to a series win. Westphal now falls to 3-3 on the season.
With the loss, the Hawks will hope to rebound over the next five days as they head up to Vancouver to face the Canadians in a five game series. First pitch tomorrow is set for 8:05 p.m. MT.
